[Link].

net ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

Volume-5, Issue-6, November-December 2015

International Journal of Engineering and Management Research
Page Number: 756-758

Classification of Human Rights

Rajeev Kumar
Department of Political Science RSS (P.G.) College, Pilkhuwa, INDIA

ABSTRACT II. CLASSIFICATION OF HUMAN

Human rights movement has progressed to a point
where in its fundamental conception, it treats members of the
RIGHTS
human race as members of a global community and
therefore, broadly entitled to a common definitions of Human Human Rights can be broadly classified into
Rights. Some of widely accepted definitions of Human Rights different perspectives: Firstly the perspective of various
are as follows - aspects to human life-civil, Social, Economic, Cultural,
1. The United "Nations Charter for Human Rights defines Political and Moral secondly, from the perspective of the
Human Rights" as those rights which are inherent in our methods of securing them. On the second basis, they are
nature and without which we cannot live as human being.1 constitutional or legal.
2. Human Rights have also been defined as moral rights of 1. Natural Rights
the higher order stemming from "Socially shared moral
Natural Rights are those rights which are
conceptions of the nature of the human person and the
conditions necessary for a life of dignity".2 considered to be inherent and integral to human nature. In
3. Nickel characterizes Human Rights as 'norms which are fact every individual by nature is given an individual
definite, high priority, universal and existing and valid property of his own which cannot be taken away by any
independency of recognition of implementation in the authority. Such rights include intellectual rights, rights of
customs or legal systems of particular countries.'3 the mind and also rights of acting as an individual for his
4. For Falk, Human Rights are not merely legal or moral own comfort and happiness, provided they are not
abstraction but they "are embedded in historical process injurious to natural rights of others. 5
.......closely intertwined with the ongoing anti-imperial 2. Moral Rights
struggle political, economic and cultural structures of
These rights are based on the general principle of
intentional domination."4
fairness and justice. These are simply aspirations and
Keyword-- Human Rights can be broadly classified into ideals of the peoples who claims for it. Sometimes, people
different perspectives justify these rights on the ground of the role they perform
or the position they occupy in society.
3. Fundamental Rights
There are certain rights which are more important
I. INTRODUCTION and basic than the others. For example, right to life is the
most basic of all rights upon which the enjoyment of other
From the above definitions, the following rights depends. These right can never be restricted or taken
characteristic of Human Rights become evident : away by any authority. That is why, every society has a
1. These are the rights of an individual or a group of fundamental duty to protect it all the times. Among other
individuals. basic rights are-the rights to be recognized as a person
2. These rights are inalienable and human beings are before the law, the right to equal protection under law and
entitled to them by birth. freedom from illegal arrest or detention.
3. It is a universal and legal concept. 4. Legal Rights
4. These rights are meant to uphold human dignity and Legal Rights are otherwise known as positive
equality and to set forth liberty and fraternity to all without rights. These rights are laid down in law. They also
any kind of discrimination. guaranteed and protected by the law of the state. Thus
5. These rights can be executed only within the society and legal rights are uniform and open to all irrespective of the
are protected and enforced by the authority of the state at caste, colour, race or culture.
all levels.

756 Copyright © 2016. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.

[Link] ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

5. Civil and Political Rights links uniting human rights, development, peace,
Rights that are granted by government or civil disarmament and many other issues. This broad vision ties
society are called Civil and Political Rights. These rights in with the thinking of those who call for and urge the
provide the bases for the fulfillment of elementary formulation of "Three generation" human rights.
conditions of the social life without them, civilized life is These are–
not possible and they are, therefore, considered very 1. The first generation of human rights are those which
essential for the progressive life of man. Civil and political originated in Europe and Americain the 18th Century.
rights, however, include the right to freedom of speech, of These rights emerged from the American revolution (1776)
assembly, the right to move freely, to hold property and and French revolution (1789). They were aimed at
practice trade or profession and the right to take part in the securing the citizen's liberty from arbitrary action by the
government of one's country. state. These rights correspond by the large to the civil and
6. Economic, Social and Cultural Rights political rights in the International Bill of Rights such as
These are entitlements of the individual vis-a-vis the right to individual freedom, freedom of speech, thought
the state, in order to eradicate social inequality, economic and faith, the right to own property and so on. These rights
imbalances and to limit disadvantages caused by nature, were meant to impose 'negative obligation on governments
age and so-on. These rights, however, are bestowed by the to desist from interfering with the exercise of individual
state. The state is not bound to meet these entitlements all liberties. These rights were among the major concerns of
at once. It depends upon the economic resources of the all liberal and democratic movements since the nineteenth
society. Most of the Socialist States recognize these rights century.
as fundamental rights of the people. Right to equality, right 2. The second generation of human rights emerged in the
to work, right to have family, right to privacy, right to 19th century out of the political and economic struggles of
information, right to public assistance during old age and the emergent working class and included political and
sickness, right to health care, right to special care during economic demands like the right to participate in the
childhood and during motherhood are some of the exercise of political power, the rights to universal adult
examples of these rights. franchise; the right to fixed hours of work, the right to
Aforesaid rights are form some of the major minimum wages, the right to form unions and so on. These
categorizations. But such categorization are not enough in rights were conceptualized and legalized in the West in
the sense that right have a tendency to grow with the course of a series of agitation and struggles corresponding
changing circumstances of the society. Certain rights, like to the various stages of economic growth under a capitalist
the right to development, the right to know and the right to system. These rights are also said to be "security-oriented"
self-determination are of recent origin. as it provides for social, economic and cultural security.
Several governments, however, as well as the These rights-social, economic and cultural are more
news media and other agencies, have come to use the term positive in nature, that they make it the duty of the state to
'human rights' in very narrow sense, referring only to Civil ensure that these rights are realized. The Universal
and Political Rights set out in United Nations Declarations. Declaration of Human Rights reflects the consensus on the
As a result the term 'human rights' is often broadly principles which form the basis of the first and second
misused to mean only Civil and Political rights and to generation rights.
exclude from consideration as a matter of rights, 3. The third generation of human rights emerged in the
fundamental issues like the right to food, health, education twentieth century through the socio-political turmoil of the
and social security. two World Wars. These rights are a response to the
The Vienna Declaration, issued after a phenomenon of global interdependence. These rights are
Conference on Human Rights, 14 June 1993, in which of relatively recent origin. They have evolved in response
representatives of 171 countries and hundreds of non- to various new concerns over which international
governmental organizations participated, unambiguously consensus has emerged in recent years. These include
affirmed that all human rights are universal, indivisible, environmental, cultural and developmental rights. They are
interdependent and inter related. It has also been affirmed concerned with the rights of groups and peoples rather than
that democracy is the sole guarantor of individual rights- of individuals and include such rights as the right of self-
civil, political, economic, social, cultural and collective determination and the right to development. The
rights within states and within community of states. 6 Declaration on the Right to development adopted by the
UN General Assembly in 1986 is the most important
III. THREE GENERATION OF HUMAN example of these rights.
RIGHTS
Though Human rights are indivisible, but they are
also inseparable from the major aspirations of time. It is
therefore vital to faster constantly an awareness of the
757 Copyright © 2016. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.
[Link] ISSN (ONLINE): 2250-0758, ISSN (PRINT): 2394-6962

REFERENCE
[1] P. Alston (Ed.), The United Nations and Human
Rights, A Critical Appraisal, Oxford, Clarendon Press,
1992, Page 3
[2] Jack Donnelly, "Satisfying Basic Needs in Africa :
Human Rights, Markets and State", Africa Today Vol. 32,
No. 2, 1985, Page 2
[3] J.W. Nickel, Making Sense of Human Rights,
Berkeley, University of California Press, 1987, Pages 3-4
[4] R. Falk, Human Rights and State Sovereignty, New
York, Holmes and Meier, 1981, Page 6
[5] Thomas Paine, The Rights of the Man, part I, Every
Man's Liberty London, 1906, Reprint, 1954, Page 55
[6] Arjun Dev Das Gupta and Indira Arjun Dev, Human
Rights: A Source Book, NCERT publication, 1996,
introduction part.

758 Copyright © 2016. Vandana Publications. All Rights Reserved.